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Founded in 2007, International Capital Markets Pty Ltd (IC Markets) was established in Sydney and acquired an Australian Financial Services License (AFSL) with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) in 2009.

Today, IC Markets offers the suite of trading platform from MetaQuotes Software Corporation, including MetaTrader4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5), as well as the suite of cTrader platforms from SpotWare Systems.

In addition to providing traders 63 forex pairs and 41 CFDs on indices, metals, cryptocurrencies and futures contracts on its available account types, IC Markets also provides social copy trading via Myfxbook and on the ZuluTrade platform.

Trust Score

Trading with a forex broker traders can trust is crucial to success. Unfortunately, forex fraud and scams are common in the industry.

Here at ForexBrokers.com, we maintain the largest independent regulatory database available on the web. Using 28 different variables, we have created a proprietary 1-100 score (the higher the better) of overall trustworthiness, which we call the Trust Score. Here is our trust summary of IC Markets.

IC Markets

Trust Score

69

Year Founded

2007

Publicly-Traded Company (Listed)

No

Regulated in Major Hub

Yes

Regulated in Emerging Hub

No

Authorised in the European Union

No

CFTC Registered (USA)

No

FCA Regulated (UK)

No

IIROC Authorised (Canada)

No

FINMA Authorised (Switzerland)

No

ASIC Authorised (Australia)

Yes

SFC Authorised (Hong Kong)

No

MAS Authorised (Singapore)

No

FSA Authorised (Japan)

No

FMA Authorised (New Zealand)

No

CySEC Authorised (Cyprus)

No

Offering of Investments

The following table summarizes the different investment products available to IC Markets clients.

IC Markets

Minimum Initial Deposit

$200

Currency Pairs (Total Forex pairs)

63

CFDs - Total Offered

41

Exchange Traded Securities: US

No

Exchange Traded Securities: International

No

Cryptocurrency traded as actual

No

Cryptocurrency traded as CFD

Yes

Commissions & Fees

IC Markets offers three account types in which trading costs vary from commission-free (spread only) on the Standard account to commission-based pricing (spread + commission) on the True ECN and cTrader accounts.

IC Markets also offers further discounts to traders that do over 100 standard lots per month, akin to an active trader offering.

The cTrader account has about a tenth of a pip lower commission than the TrueECN account, making both accounts similar. The main difference is the platform that can be accessed. For example, the True ECN account, which uses MT4, charges $3.5 per side for every 100k units (1 standard lot) or $7.00 per round turn (RT), whereas on cTrader it is $3.0 per side or $6.00 per standard RT.

IC Markets lists its average spread on the EUR/USD at 0.1 pips, and after adding the commission equivalent of 0.6 pips on the cTrader account, the all-in costs would be 0.7 pips (or 0.8 on MT4) which is competitive.
IC Markets also offers further discounts to traders that do over 100 standard lots per month, akin to an active trader offering. Meanwhile, the commission-free standard account has an average spread of 1.1 listed by IC Markets, making it a less attractive option compared to the other two commission-based account types.

IC Markets

Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard

0.70

All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active

0.70

Active Trader or Premium/VIP

No

Customer Service

For our 2018 Forex Review, 129 customer service phone tests were conducted over three months. The data collected is institutional grade. On average, three questions were asked for each test. To score each test, the tests were divided into three separate groups and scores were given for the time taken to connect with each support representative and the ability of each representative to professionally (and thoroughly) answer each question. A Net Promoter Score was also given for the overall experience.

Results:

Average Connection Time: <1 minute

Average Net Promoter Score: 6.33 / 10

Average Professionalism Score: 6.7 / 10

Overall Score: 7.0 / 10

Ranking: 19th (43 brokers)

Research

IC Markets combines some in-house research resources, such as multiple technical and fundamental analysis, on its blog every day under its market analysis section, alongside content powered by third parties, including an economic calendar from MQL5 and news headlines from Myfxbook.

IC Markets also added EA Lab by Trade View in 2017, which lets users build out their Expert Advisors (EAs) for automated trading on MetaTrader platforms. With EA Lab, traders use a drag and drop feature that removes some of the complexity around understanding code, yet still requires advance technical knowledge.

Besides social copy-trading resources and the platform add-on, research is not IC Markets’ strong point as the broker does not provide pattern-recognition tools or news headlines in MT4.

IC Markets

Daily Market Commentary

Yes

Forex News (Top-Tier Sources)

No

AutoChartist

No

Trading Central (Recognia)

No

Delkos Research

No

Acuity Trading

No

Social Trading / Copy-Trading

Yes

Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs

No

Client Webinars

No

Client Webinars (Archived)

Yes

Videos - Beginner Trading Videos

No

Economic Calendar

Yes

Calendar Includes Forecasts

Yes

Economic News Sentiment

Yes

Trade Ideas - Backtesting

Yes

Platforms & Tools

IC Markets offers third-party online forex trading platforms from two of the most popular developers, including MetaQuotes Software Corporation – creator of the MT4 and MT5 platforms, and the cTrader platform suite developed by Spotware systems.

While MT4 and MT5 come standard with little variation from broker to broker on the surface of the platform, there can be significant differences in how the platform is set up for trading spreads and commissions, the available execution method, and other tools, features, and administrative areas that can affect your trading experience.

Besides spreads, range of instruments, and account types, here is a summary of the differences in features between IC Markets’ available MT4 and MT5 platform setup and the default MetaTrader experience:

IC Markets’ other platform offering centers around the cTrader suite of platforms developed by Spotware Systems. cTrader comes as a web-based version and desktop version for Windows, and the suite includes related trading applications from developers such as cAlgo – used for automated trading – and the cMirror platform for social copy trading.

In addition to cMirror and the Signals market from Metatrader, IC Markets offers Myfxtrade and the ZuluTrade platforms for social copy trading.

IC Markets

Virtual Trading (Demo)

Yes

Desktop Platform (Windows)

Yes

Desktop Platform (Mac)

No

Web Platform

Yes

Social Trading / Copy-Trading

Yes

Proprietary

No

MetaTrader4 (MT4)

Yes

MetaTrader5 (MT5)

Yes

cTrader

Yes

Currenex

No

ZuluTrade

Yes

MirrorTrader

No

Charting - Drawing Tools (Total)

31

Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total)

51

Watchlists - Total Fields

7

Order Type - Trailing Stop

Yes

Mobile Trading

IC Markets provides a mobile version of all the platforms it offers, including MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 and cTrader, all of which come standard for iOS and Android.

To learn more about the mobile version of cTrader, read our guide to cTrader; for MT4 or MT5, read our guide to Metatrader.

IC Markets

Android App

Yes

Apple iOS App

Yes

Charting - Draw Trend Lines

Yes

Charting - Can Turn Horizontally

Yes

Charting - Technical Studies/Indicators

30

Watch List Syncing

No

Trading - Forex

Yes

Trading - CFDs

Yes

Alerts - Basic Fields

Yes

Other Notes

IC Markets provides execution on an agency basis, which means orders may be subject to positive or negative slippage as there are no re-quotes, and the broker permits hedging.

...IC Markets has a good range of educational content for beginners...

In terms of educational content, it is worth mentioning that IC Markets has a good range of content for beginners under its 101 series that ranges from topics such as trading psychology to technical analysis, with nearly a dozen or more articles in each category.

Final Thoughts

IC Markets can appeal to algorithmic traders that use the MT4, MT5, or cTrader platforms, and who need agency execution coupled with competitive spreads and low commissions.

The standard account would not be my choice as spreads are inherently wider compared to the True ECN account for MT4 or the cTrader account, which is priced slightly better by about $1 per 100,000 units traded.

Although research is not IC Markets’ strong point, the broker has room to build on its foundation, and offering social trading on Myfxbook and ZuluTrade helps round off its offering to retail forex and CFD traders.

Methodology

Forex Risk Disclaimer

"There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities. With respect to margin-based foreign exchange trading, off-exchange derivatives, and cryptocurrencies, there is considerable exposure to risk, including but not limited to, leverage, creditworthiness, limited regulatory protection and market volatility that may substantially affect the price, or liquidity of a currency or related instrument. It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable, or that they will not result in losses."Learn more.

Reviewed by Steven Hatzakis
Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Research for ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. Steven is an active fintech and crypto industry researcher and advises blockchain companies at the board level. Over the past 19 years, Steven has held numerous positions within the international forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a registered commodity futures representative.

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Ratings
Overall

Summary

Commissions & Fees

Offering of Investments

Platforms & Tools

Research

Customer Service

Mobile Trading

Education

Best in Class

2018

23 of 43

Overall

Commissions & Fees

Commission Notes

Below is an overview of trading costs at IC Markets across its three account offerings, including contract specifications for its cryptocurrency CFDs:

Standard Account: This is a commission-free account used with MT4. An average EUR/USD spread of 1.1 pips is listed by IC Markets for the standard account.

True ECN Account: This is a commission-based account used with MT4. An average EUR/USD spread of 0.1 pips is listed by IC Markets for the True ECN account, and its commission is $7.0 round turn ($3.5 per side), bringing its all-in cost to 0.8 pips (after adding the 0.7 pip commission equivalent).

cTrader Account: This is a commission-based account used with cTrader. An average EUR/USD spread of 0.1 pips is listed by IC Markets for the cTrader account, and its commission is $6.0 round turn ($3.0 per side), bringing its all-in cost to 0.7 pips (after adding the 0.6 pip commission equivalent).

For active traders that do more than 100 standard lots in volume, IC Markets provides further discounts (on a case-by-case basis) on the applicable commission rate.

Trading CFDs, FX, and cryptocurrencies involves a high degree of risk. All providers have a percentage of retail investor accounts that lose money when trading CFDs with their company. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money and whether you understand how CFDs, FX, and cryptocurrencies work. All data was obtained from a published web site as of 4/03/2018 and is believed to be accurate, but is not guaranteed. The ForexBrokers.com staff is constantly working with its online broker representatives to obtain the latest data. If you believe any data listed above is inaccurate, please contact us using the link at the bottom of this page.

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